Hoshiko Uchiha
Hoshiko Uchiha (うちは星子, Uchiha Hoshiko) is a Chūnin level kunoichi hailing from Takigakure, better known as "The Dancing Star" (ほしぶとう, Hoshi Butō), she's also the youngest and only sister of three brothers. Background Live for the Clan. Bring honor to the Clan. Uphold Clan values. For as long as Hoshiko could remember, that's the only thing repetitively driven into her head while she trained to be a kunoichi in Yamagakure. There was no time to just be as she was without someone reprimanding or pointing out her shortcomings, especially since the youth had shown zero promise of unlocking the Sharingan; although her parents never said so, she was certain her inability to manifest the dōjutsu was a direct blow to their pride. Seeing no point in lamenting over things she could and could not do, the Uchiha youth instead spent more time training in a secluded area, focusing on the clan's Fire-release style jutsu and her speed. As if the claims of her authenticity as an Uchiha weren't enough, Hoshiko dealt with ridicule from her peers about her pure white hair, taunting her with the nickname "Old Woman Hoshi" and "Grandma White-hair" being the most tame, unbeknownst to them, the shade of her hair was the physical proof of her surviving the mysterious illness that nearly took her life at birth and turned her black hair a snowy white and her hazel brown eyes to an obsidian shade. Eventually, the cruelty of children became a little too much and Hoshiko reached her breaking point, retaliating and retaliating hard against her bullies. While reprimanded and scolded for the "unprovoked attack", in all honesty, she'd never felt better than when she'd been pummeling the faces of those who'd been humiliating her for as long as she could remember, it was cathartic, freeing. The knowledge that she could hurt another living being as she'd been hurt, the thought didn't take long to take root in her mind and begin to seep into her heart. Trials of Shinobi: Hoshiko Finds Her Nindō Hoshiko graduated at an earlier age than estimated of her year mates, but she was by no means considered a prodigy, there was nothing overly impressive or noteworthy about her, the teachers found her one of the less rambunctious of the bunch and her year-mates knew better than to rouse her temper. But really, what was it that made her special? The answer was: she wasn't. And that's the way she liked it. The people who went around wasting their time becoming strong or at the least, competent individuals? Where did that get them? Death and forgotten by the next generation. Although not a coward in the least, Hoshiko Uchiha had a very healthy self-preservation streak, the survival rate of shinobi was a very small percentage and many Genin died on their first mission outside the gates. The goal was not to work harder but smarter and not draw unnecessary attention to herself, or heaven forbid, garner a name widespread enough so that people would come far and wide to test their skills against her own or hold her captive in some secluded lab away from society, experimenting on her, as some bogey stories passed around had went. Meeting her teammates, Toru Koizumi and Hinako Inoue had gone as well as expected. Both were "veteran" Genin, or simply two kunoichi who'd gotten some rather unfortunate luck with their previous teammate(s) dying, they were considered unlucky and frankly Hoshiko hadn't wanted that gimmick to stick, their teacher, Koji Kono, while competent enough, was stringently by the book, a stickler for the rules; and ultimately, Hoshiko believed that they were going to bring her down in the end, in some manner, shape or fashion, so while she played nice most of the time, she hadn't gone out of her way to really get to know them, as a true comrade and team-member was encouraged to do. On their first C-rank outside the village, which was supposed to be a simple bodyguard detail with a side mission of returning an artifact to it's original owner, everything went to Hell in a hand-basket and pretty fast too. Encountering enemies far above the estimated skill level with what was likely intercepted intelligence on their whereabouts and travel routes left the dysfunctional team above their heads, outgunned, outmatched and outnumbered. Toru tried to step up and play hero, but she was cut down, Hinako flew into a rage and was caught, toyed with and used as a bargaining chip. Koji, boring and by the book, was supposed to be Hoshiko's protector, and yet he ran. He ran away and left her behind, to complete the mission, citing that "it was for the village". Hoshiko was so angry and confused, betrayed. And her captors were not amused. What It Means to Be a Ninja The reality of her deplorable situation crept upon her quickly. Although young, she was female and human trafficking was very much something still in effect, without the signature Uchiha look, Hoshiko didn't even have that as added incentive to be freed without significant damage done to her. Although panicked, Hoshiko didn't show her fear on her face, playing the docile role of a frightened and useless girl when some particularly creepy underlings tried to (obviously) make her uneasy, by telling her exactly what sort of price she was going to fetch because of her exotic looks, it was a classic scare tactic but also a reality, a reality that she was determined to avoid. Mind a whirl with decision after decision, a fortnight had passed and they were getting further and further away from the village and any outposts that would lead them back to safety, Hinako was distressingly useless, crying and whimpering whenever the enemy even glanced at her while Hoshiko did the work for both of them, taking the beatings for the older girl passively and quietly, watching their captors for behavioral patterns and looking to exploit any weakness wherever she could; sabotaging their food, ruining their clothes, dropping ants and bugs into their supplies, etc. etc. These were minor infractions that she was punished for with a heavy hand. Yet each time, she became that much more careful, cautious. It was on their third day of being officially kidnapped and AWOL from the village when Hoshiko saw the opening necessary to escape. Originally, Hinako did not even factor into her plans because she was just so very useless and would be an added burden, only to realize that it was not exactly the case, her being useless that is, as she'd been subtly leaving behind a trail for ninja to find them, marking the trees and kicking up the biggest, girliest fuss she could whenever they had to move; it was actually ingenious, if not a bit cruel given that Hoshiko had been getting kicked around for her and the Uchiha said as much to the older girl, getting a sincere apology for not being clued into the plan. Night time came and the kunoichi were each prepared to leave, coming to the agreement that they'd likely had to fight it out and rely on each other, it was a brittle alliance but it'd served them well. Deadly traps that'd the duo had set up around the enemy camp went off with a small surge of Hinako's chakra and they took off quickly, the older girl mainly being the one to cut down their captors, some long forgotten sentiment to preserve her innocence or some such nonsense, but inevitably, Hoshiko had to take out her fair share too. It was a blood-bath that the reinforcements arrived to. Complete chaos, insanity. Two young girls taking on full grown adult men and women, and winning. It was the night that became a prominent marker in Hoshiko's story and her tumultuous journey. The Weapon Chooses the Master What does one do when they can't trust the people around them, the very government that they look to and serve under? That was the question that went through Hoshiko's head every time she looked at her kinsmen and walked through the village. It wasn't the killing that bothered her, although her mother made sure to get a psych evaluation immediately upon she and Hinako's return, and it wasn't the fact that suddenly, because she'd survived a deadly encounter by the skin of her teeth, everyone suddenly thought she was worthy to be called an Uchiha. It wasn't that. It was the fact that despite everything, the death of one teammate and the resulting friendship with the remaining female, their teacher, Koji, was not reprimanded for his cowardice. It was the fact that despite how she and Hinako had returned home, covered in blood and other questionable substances, it was as if nothing had changed. That was the way of ninja, her parents had explained solemnly, and she understood. Intellectually, she did. But in her heart, she was bitter. Bitter and angry, at her parents, at Hinako, at her siblings, at everything and nothing. Yet she dared not show this on her face, she kept putting one foot forward, kept accepting missions and training, ignoring Koji when she didn't have to be with him on a mission and Hinako proved invaluable as a sparring buddy and as someone to bounce ideas off of, the girl outfitting her with weights eventually to put a little muscle on her and to bring up her speed even more as it became more and more apparent that she was not a front line fighter, she was a saboteur, someone who struck fast hard and silently then retreated to the background so that her teammates would pull the extra weight and finish off an opponent. By chance one day on her off day, while walking through the market with her mother and bored out of her mind as the woman bargain shopped, Hoshiko wandered off, coming across a display of a beautiful iron war fan, she couldn't resist and bought it before someone else did. Halfheartedly scolded by her mother, who realized long ago that she would never be some demure housewife who sat at home knitting or barefoot an pregnant, waiting on her husband to return home, Hoshiko was then congratulated on her rare find, as her particular war fan allowed her to convert her chakra into the weapon and use it as a conductor for attacks, something an enemy would never expect. Interlude After Hoshiko became a Chūnin, she signed all the necessary paperwork and went through the proper channels in order to get a transfer to Takigakure. It wasn't necessarily that too hard for her family to swallow and Koji certainly looked relieved that physical proof of his spinelessness would be out of sight and out of mind, Hinako, who'd become her best friend, was put out over the fact that she was the last to know, not to mention hurt. The younger girl tried to explain her reasons in a way that'd make sense. How she didn't feel comfortable or patriotic, that it'd be better to leave now before she did something that she later regretted and although it took all night, with numerous interruptions and protestations from Hinako, she grudgingly conceded defeat, realizing she couldn't change or persuade Hoshiko to stay with her, as it wouldn't be fair. Once the paperwork was processed, the instant she was aware, she left without warning or note, it was a clean break, at least, that was how she justified it. As the years passed, the stronger Hoshiko became and her original idea not to be noticed by others, her wish to remain anonymous and mundane, became obsolete. People knew her by reputation first, name last. It was...gratifying. To not be shackled by the stigma of her clan that one needed to have the in order to be remembered, to be thought of as strong. With this realization came an internal peace and her strength, her true strength and self worth as a person was found. Appearance Hoshiko wears a pale grey kimono with white koi fish designs along the sleeves, chest area and near the edge of the material, complimented with her dual giant fans attached to her back, she wears shorts hidden beneath the outfit, chest wrapping so she doesn't accidentally flash someone while fighting and basic black ninja sandals. Her hair is white and cut oddly so that the fringe just barely stays out of her eyesight while there's a few long strands on either side of her face that goes past her shoulders and towards her hips. During Part II, she became noticeably taller and she'd cut her hair until it reached just about at her shoulder-blades, distinctly more manageable and giving her a mature look as her body had filled out and become womanly. Her choice of clothing included a rusted red colored dress with an stretchy black undershirt and arm-guards, the gems attached to the arm-guards and decorative belt acted as a sort of sealing scroll known only to her, to top the look off, she wore knee-length high black socks to cover her feet and ninja sandals. In short, Hoshiko is a very beautiful woman and knows this but doesn't flaunt the fact unless some creep tries to flirt with her or get in her pants. That isn't to say that she's above tactics like using her beauty as a bargaining chip to get the tongue of an insecure lord's wagging or to incite a happily married couple into being at each other's throats while dropping (false) hints of infidelity. Personality Hoshiko has a very asocial attitude to life. Awkward, slightly socially inept and preferring to avoid socializing and getting close to others due to the lingering remnants of childhood trauma at her bullies’ hands; she also has a mild case of OCD and gets absolutely riled up when someone moves her things, whether paperwork or personal, out of the specialized order she has. Almost innocent and sweet at times, she occasionally exhibits a naivety not shown in people her age. However, while working in the field or in the middle of a mission, she’s, in all honesty, a bad ass; she is willing to do whatever it takes, no matter what might happen to her in the process and uses sarcasm in dealing with enemies. Also, she has shown traits of passive-aggressiveness and general laziness. People often complain that she's not taking her job as a kunoichi seriously outside of the mission parameter and she has a mean streak that allows her to harshly scold or demean anyone she assumes as "beneath" her. As a ninja, she can lie with the best of them and lie well, but even when she does lie, she uses just enough truth to make her stories seem even more credible, thus, according to her, she's not exactly lying but giving others a "selective truth". Abilities Tessenjutsu Tessenjutsu (鉄扇術?) is the martial art of the Japanese war fan (tessen). It is based on the use of the solid iron fan or the folding iron fan, which usually had eight or ten wood or iron ribs. Hoshiko, a practitioner of tessenjutsu, has acquired a high level of skill. So skilled, in fact, that she is able to defend herself against an attacker wielding a sword, and even kill an opponent with a single blow. Like so many other Japanese arts of combat, tessenjutsu reached a high level of sophistication. For example, she was able to defeat several enemies with an iron fan. Apart from using it in duels against enemies armed with swords and spears, Hoshiko can also use it to fence and fend off knives and poisoned darts thrown at her. Like a sword, the tessen could be dual-wielded to parry with one hand and attack with the other. Nature Transformation Fire Release Like any other full blooded Uchiha, Hoshiko had to be able to utilize the Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique in order to be recognized as a full fledged adult of the clan. It seems that what she lacks in the dōjutsu area, she more than makes up for when she uses this technique, it's easily two to three times the normal size. The personal favorite of hers is Fire Release: Fire Rings and is the technique that she uses the most, in order to quickly cut through an irritating weakling or incinerate anything natural surrounding her to ash. When truly desperate, you'll see her pull out her strongest fire attack, Fire Release: Great Meteor Shower as a last resort if she hasn't already used Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Flower Nail Crimson in order to make a quick escape. Genjutsu Taijutsu Speed Trivia *''Hoshiko'' (星子) can be translated as "star-child". *According to her databook: **Hoshiko's hobby is sunrise and sunset watching **When she really likes someone, at first it might seem as if she's being deliberately distant, though in reality, she's struggling not to blush and stammer through a sentence. **Hoshiko's favorite phrase is; "The journey of a mile begins with a single step." **Hoshiko liked to draw any and all sorts of wildflowers and plant-life seen outside of her village, not that she was very skilled at it. **Hoshiko has completed 110 missions in total: 35 D-rank, 40 C-rank, and 35 B-rank. *Hoshiko's creation is a mix and match of several characters from several sites that I've been on and nonetheless, she's her very own person. *The opening theme song for Hoshiko is I Don't Need a Man by Hyuna, her battle theme is Make a Move by Icon for Hire, and her ending theme song is Don't Leave by T-ara. Quotes Category:Lady Kirei Category:Uchiha Clan